JR Employees Afraid of Elderly Man’s “Bullet Train Rage”

A bizarre incident took place today on a bullet train:

TAKASAKI, Gunma — Services along the Nagano Shinkansen bullet train line were disrupted Tuesday after a passenger punched a conductor and hurled souvenirs and sandwiches at him because he didn’t have a ticket for the first-class seat he was in, police and railway officials said.

Police are currently questioning the “bullet train rage” passenger and may arrest him for assault.

The conductor on the Asama 520 bullet train where the incident allegedly occurred was not hurt badly in the clash.

East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) officials said the conductor asked the man sitting in a “Green Car” first class section to produce his ticket, but instead the passenger flew into a rage, hurling souvenirs and sandwiches at the rail worker and then punching him on the jaw. There were several people in the carriage at the time.

Mainichi’s English language article does not give many details about the fearsome criminal, but I just saw a TV news segment that revealed some interesting information. The angry man that forced JR to halt bullet train service for nearly 40 minutes was an elderly man in his 70′s or 80′s.